300 KM TO LOVE AND SAVING BISON

The collection is over!

3 000 UAH from Oleksandra

460 UAH from Ivan

20 UAH from Olga

300 UAH from Arsen

650 UAH from Irina

1300 UAH from Volodymyr

300 UAH from Arsen

460 UAH from Ivan

60 UAH from Dmytro

600 UAH from Polina

2400 UAH from Maxim

90 UAH from Vlad

380 UAH from Christina

40 UAH from Yulia

900 UAH from Tatiana

As a result of the Russian war in Ukraine, only female bison remain in Zalissia just north of Kyiv. A male bison from the Vinnytsia region can save the herd from dying out, but he is too far away. Your donation can reduce the distance and save the herd.

134 302 UAH

400 000 UAH

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No male bison left in «Zalissia»

A herd of bison that settled in the Zalissia National Nature Park just north of Kyiv was under the Russian war in Ukraine for more than a month. Their home along with the surrounding villages was an area of intense fighting in the first months of the war, with artillery and mortar attacks and movement of military units and equipment on forest roads.

The occupation and fighting affected the herd of bison: not a single adult male bison remains. Without a bull, the herd in Zalissia is doomed to extinction.

One or two male bison from the Vinnytsia region west of Kyiv can save the herd in Zalissia, but to do so the animal has to travel about 300 km and around Kyiv – a difficult journey that it cannot do on its own. The bison need our help.

donate now to make love possible

What is the way of salvation?

Relocating any animal, even a domestic one, requires careful preparation and time. Relocating Europe's largest land animal will require a year of coordinated action and an initial 400,000 UAH.

1-st step:

Obtaining a special permit to capture and transport a bison

October 2023 - May 2024

The permit must be issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, and its receipt is mandatory before work can begin as the bison is an animal in the Red Book of Ukraine. The process of obtaining the permit includes preliminary approval by various institutions. This process is ongoing, and WWF-Ukraine has already received the first approvals.

2-nd step:

Preparation for translocation

June - September 2024

A detailed step-by-step work plan is prepared by expert scientists. In particular, they choose the animals, the method and method of capture, and the time of its implementation. They also involve veterinarians to monitor the animal's health, make cages for transporting the bison, stock up on food for baiting, feeding, etc.

3-d step:

Capture and transportation of the bison

October - December 2024

The beginning of the work for which we have been preparing for so long: engaging specialists to capture the animals, taking and conducting the necessary tests by veterinarians, professional supervision of the animal's health, selection of appropriate transport for transportation, engaging special equipment to load the animal into the transport, moving it to the place of release, unloading, etc.

4-th step:

Release of bison and further monitoring

January - March 2025

After the animal is transported, everything is just beginning. At this stage, we need to quarantine the bison in the enclosure and feed it, examine it by veterinarians and other experts, repeat the tests, release it from the enclosure, and further monitor the successful adaptation of the bison in the herd using photo traps and telemetry collars. Monitoring tools can provide valuable information on the integration of the male(s) into the herd, which will be an indication of the success of our plan to save the bison herd in Zalissia.

The bison were brought to the territory of «Zalissia» NNP in 1967 from the Bialowieza Forest in Poland. Eight animals formed the Zalissia subpopulation, which still lives in semi-free conditions. The fenced area of the reserve is huge – 14,800 hectares – but in March 2022 a significant part of the area was destroyed as a result of the the Russian war in Ukraine.

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WWF-UKRAINE HAS ALREADY DONE

Developed a National Bison Conservation Action Plan that will improve the protection of this rare species.

Established cooperation with the expert community on bison and published analytical materials on the prospects for the conservation and reproduction of the species in Ukraine.

Launched monitoring of bison populations and investigated the population dynamics of bison in Ukraine.

Conducted a survey of local communities in the immediate vicinity of the bison to determine if there is a conflict with these animals.

Installed the first photo traps to monitor bison in their habitat.

The collection is over!

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